


warm glow that lingers on

by meanderingsoul



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Crying, Eloping, F/M, Family Issues, Holding Hands, Kissing, Lap Sex, Laughter During Sex, Obnoxious 90s Texting, Rings, Road Trips, Romantic Fluff, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:57:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanderingsoul/pseuds/meanderingsoul
Summary: Somehow the first thing Melinda finally got out of her mouth was, “Let’s go somewhere.”





	warm glow that lingers on

 

Andrew proposed on bended knee in their third apartment after breakfast. She’d only gotten back the night before. Being level 4 kept her busier than 3, though the pay was a bit better. They were still getting used to it.

Weekend breakfast, quiet and lingering, him in just sweatpants and her in one of his t-shirts and old tube socks and now somehow there was a small ring between Drew’s fingertips.

He might have said something.

The ring was her size, a thin silvery band, but she could tell it was light, probably titanium. Durable. The finish was matte, it wouldn’t catch the light and flash, give her away. Set flat into the metal were two tiny red stones and one tiny diamond. They wouldn’t catch on things. It wasn’t the kind of thing anyone would have tried to convince him to buy in a store. It was so pretty.

It was all just… perfect.

“I’d say take your time, but honestly I might pass out,” Drew said gently, the warm lilt of humor not doing much to hide his anxiousness.

Melinda still couldn’t get her mouth to work, so she held out her left hand to him without a sound.

“Yeah? Gonna marry me beautiful?” he said, a wide smile creeping onto his face.

She nodded, kept nodding while he slid the ring onto her finger, kissed both her hands and pulled her face down to meet his mouth with his fingers so light on her jaw.

He got his feet back under him and her arms twined around his throat, kissing deep and slow like she could drink him down if she just tried hard enough, leaning up on her toes to press closer.

Andrew kissed down her jaw, kissed her throat, cradled her head to his in one warm hand, murmured, “Oh thank God. Melinda. Melinda. I love you. Love you so much beautiful. Ohhh you scared me for a minute there.”

There was a shiver in her chest, something fizzing, something that wondered if she was dreaming, but she’d never dreamed in stories like other people seemed to.

Melinda pulled away from his mouth to cradle Drew’s face between her hands, trace his cheeks and the corner of his smile. His eyes were wet. Hers probably were too. Somehow the first thing she finally got out of her mouth was, “Let’s go somewhere.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s just go do it. Elope. Take a trip. I’m on leave for three more days and if they call me in I’ll just fess up. I’m only level 4; they can live without me for a bit.”

Andrew leaned back, hands sliding down to her waist. “You don’t want a wedding?”

Did she? She’d never pictured one before. Did she want a dress and a church aisle? What the hell for? Who would she even _invite_? She’d spend the night in a sewer pipe again before she put her mother and Fury in the same state. Dad would probably be disappointed, but he’d forgive her.

“Do _you_?” Melinda asked. That was something she should ask. They’d never discussed it.

His face twisted into a familiar, thoughtful frown. “No... Now that I think about it, I’d kind of be fine with it if our families never met each other.”

She pressed her forehead back to his warm chest, grinning so hard it hurt her face. “Same.”

“Let’s just _go_. You and me, hm? That’ll be nice.” His arms wound around her tight and she could feel his smile hidden in her hair.

“Where should we go?”

*

It was too early in the year for the beaches up here and it’d be too busy further south. As much as Melinda was planning to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. to fuck off if they tried to call her in early, she didn’t want to go _too_ far.

They ended up deciding to find some ski resort further north. It was the tail-end of the season, wouldn’t be crowded. It might be icier than was ideal, but they weren’t interested in seeing another human being for a few days. Or at least _she_ wasn’t.

Melinda packed for them both while Andrew dug through the yellow pages, pacing around their kitchen with the phone wire trailing behind him. She kept darting back in there to kiss him while he was on hold, still half dressed, her jeans and his shirt. Melinda had laughed at herself, but put on the white denim anyway, white satin underneath for later. She packed a set of glossy blue lingerie she was pretty sure he hadn’t seen her in yet while he was making the reservation, wouldn’t spot it being snatched out of the drawer.

As long as the damn car, on its last legs and they both knew it, survived the road trip this should all work. They could stop at a courthouse on the way up there, make it official.

Official. They were engaged. They’d been engaged almost a whole hour now.

Melinda kept looking at the ring out of the corner of her eye while she drove, maps splayed out across Andrew’s lap and their bags in the backseat of their shitty car, his hand resting warm on her thigh.

Something finally hit her like cold water. “Wait! Wait, I don’t have a ring for you!”

His thumb stroked her knee. “As much as I might admire your logistics abilities, I did not think you’d pre-plan for me to propose one random morning this month.”

“We can’t _not have one_.” They could pull of the highway; there’d be signs for some mall eventually. They could pick him one. Or she could pick it while he waited somewhere? Was that better? There was extra cash sewn into her duffle bag liner.  

Drew leaned over with a crinkle of map papers and kissed her cheek, lingering warm and if the damn highway wasn’t busy she’d turn her head just a _little more_. “Check your jacket pocket,” he said.

She’d pulled her usual, not-work jacket on when they headed out, wine red leather, soft, plenty of pockets. Zipped into the top pocket over her heart was something small and smooth, body-warm metal.

Balancing her hand on top of the steering wheel, she could see it was a narrow, rounded band just like hers, but old yellow gold. Velvety and warm, a few tiny nicks in the surface.

“Apparently this was Grandad’s. Can’t say I remember him wearing it, but little kids miss details when they don’t get the larger schema. Mom got onto me again at Thanksgiving, said I needed to get on with things and that we should use it.”

Melinda snorted. His mom had been getting onto him about that almost two years now.

“I… liked the idea of a family ring if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” She tucked the ring back into the top pocket. She’d put it on him soon enough.

She’d been in Thailand with a Strike team over Thanksgiving. It wasn’t a holiday she minded missing; she’d never liked stuffing anyways. Most of his family had met her over the last year or so. They handed her their squirming toddlers to watch for just a minute, teased her about how she’d met Drew, and never thought to question her cover story.

“You’ve been thinking about this for _months_ ,” she said.

Andrew’s big family had been so alien to her at first, loud, affectionate, and crap at staying in touch, at remembering details like who had moved where last year and what work they did now. But they’d never seemed to mind her quiet or her odd “business trips”.

 “Took me a while to work up my nerve. And to find a ring that might actually be able to keep up with you most of the time.”

He wasn’t wrong about that. She couldn’t wear it into the field. She wouldn’t wear it on base. She probably wouldn’t get to actually _wear_ it much at all. Right now she just never wanted to take it off again. But…

“Did you think I’d say no?”

“I know this wasn’t something you ever planned on,” he said gently.

She’d told him so many things curled up together in the dark these last few years, things she’d never been able to figure out how to put into words before. He knew better than anyone just how low her opinion of marriage had always been.

But this was Andrew.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want it,” she said.

*

They pulled off the highway before they left the state. It would just be easier that way, and late morning timing meant the only had about forty minutes to kill before the judge and a few clerks would be available to officiate.

There was time so they walked a few blocks to a store for snack bars and cans of juice to have in the cabin, a few other things. Andrew called her his fiancé when they checked out. The kid working gave them a startled look, but said nothing.

She raised an eyebrow at him heading back to drop things off in the car.

“What? I’m only ever gonna have a fiancé for a few hours,” he teased.

Something about that made her shiver, feel the ring in her pocket all over again. She took his hand in hers.

The ceremony itself was quick, boring even. The courthouse was stuffy. They said most of the traditional vow just to save time, signed some papers. The words didn’t matter.

The promise did, the part where she put his grandfather’s ring on his finger and promised to keep him until her dying breath. That mattered. The way he kissed her afterwards mattered, the smile on his face like he was almost as happy as she was, like he couldn’t quite believe this was happening either. Like somehow _she_ was more than he’d ever dreamed of, when it was obviously the other way around.

For a little while she let them be one of those obnoxious couples who made out at stoplights.

It was dark when they finally stopped for dinner before heading up the mountain. It was a nice place, more expensive than they usually splurged on. Artsy plates, crostini and steak and glasses of wine. Andrew cooked and when he didn’t feel like it they usually went for pizza or Chinese. She didn’t cook. They’d both agreed she shouldn’t try anymore.

They held hands on the table and tangled their feet under it.

Drew stepped away for a minute and came back with cake slices in a box and a bottle of champagne to go. “We can’t _not have_ cake today. That wouldn’t be right,” he said.

Of all the traditions they’d skipped today… but she’d seen those huge strawberries in the takeout box. She could handle frosting this one time.

That champagne looked better than the sweets. Melinda was very ready to be alone with him and not in a car.

*

She closed the cabin door behind them, threw the bolt and moved a chair in front out of habit, not to block anything, but to make enough noise to alert her.

It was a cute place, cozy looking fireplace, a lot of wood paneling. The cabins were all connected by a covered walkway to the lodge and they were down at the very end.

Andrew dropped their bags to the floor, loud in the sudden hush.

It had kind of simmered all day, in the background of surprise and happiness, in the rush of the highway and the courthouse and supplies.

They’d gotten married this morning. He’d been her lover and boyfriend and fiancé and now that was her husband.

Desire hit her about like getting struck by a car.

They probably moved at about the same time, but they slammed into each other so hard they staggered sideways, her elbows up on his shoulders and toes barely scraping the floor, kissing until he pulled away to breathe frantically, suck at her throat and try to shove her jeans off. She let him take most of her weight long enough to kick her shoes off, squirmed up to get her mouth on the shell of his ear.

Drew moved back and dropped to a knee, kissed down her belly, nosed the skin when her abdominals jumped. He dragged the silky white panties down her legs with his nails light on her skin and a smile on his face, dark eyes staring up at her while she squirmed out of her jacket and shirt.

They never did this much but it felt right tonight, just inside the door with her leg over his shoulder, his mouth where he could feel her heartbeat hot through the thin flesh between her thighs. He’d knelt to her twice today.

Melinda curled forward over his head, hand on his back, his tongue making her breathless. “Love you. I love you.”

It didn’t take long. He picked her up while her legs were still shaking, carried her into the other room and tumbled them down onto the bed and she could _finally_ push him onto his back and get his pants open.

Oh.

He wasn’t wearing anything underneath his khakis.

It _was_ very pretty, how his cock curved up against his belly and his pants all rumpled open around his thighs… Pretty. She still started giggling and couldn’t stop.

“Really Melinda?” he groaned, dropping a hand over his eyes while she hid her face against his ribs. His hand moved to pet her hair after a moment.

“We…we got _married_ and you didn’t even have…”

“We weren’t in a church,” he grumbled, but that only made her laugh harder and he turned her over onto her back still laughing.

She pulled his hips between her thighs still catching her breath and grinning hard enough to ache, skimming her palms up along the lines of his hips.

“Wait, wait a minute. I bought…”

“Skip it. Skip it, I don’t want it. We don’t need it. I want _this_ ,” she said, trailing her fingers over the softer tip of him, hot against her skin. Drew bit down on his lip.

They’d fucked skin to skin before, very occasionally, the shots she was on for work were _very_ efficient, but they were still cautious about it. She didn’t want that tonight.

Melinda braced up on her elbows to watch his head drop back when he sank inside her.

They weren’t being quiet. There was no one to hear. She’d never made much noise, but it was so nice not to give it a second thought, to just feel him and ignore every other goddamn thing.

Drew made _noise_ , could croon into her ear like no one else. He didn’t talk like some motel porno channel, it wasn’t filthy. He just talked to her - how they looked together, things he wanted them to do someday, how she felt on him, how he’d felt in memories of them. He was quiet then he talked then he growled under her breath when he was just about there, every time. It had turned into just another layer of the whole experience, of being in bed with _him_. She barely heard the particular words, just how much he was thinking about her, how much he wanted her too.

This was good. It was so good, familiar but _more_ somehow, her hips rolling into his and his voice in her ear, the way his rhythm stuttered when she kissed him just right. She was squirming by the time he started to fall silent, clutched him to her when they fell into it.

She wriggled out of the bed after with sticky legs to grab the champagne and two, ugly coffee mugs from the other room.

It still didn’t really hit her somehow, didn’t really sink into her brain until round three. When they were naked and sweaty and had kicked the duvet to the floor, knees on the rumpled sheets.

That was her husband now. He was hers. He was staying. He’d asked _her_. He didn’t mind what she was like. He wouldn’t lie to her. He wasn’t going to get sick of her and be done someday and she’d never, ever leave him…

She felt him startle against her back when she put her face to the bed and _howled_.

“Melinda? Melin…” he stammered, leaning back and grasping at her shoulders.

She flung a hand back and got a palmful of his ass, held him to her. “Don’t, don’t stop. It’s _perfect_ it’s so perfect, God _please_.”

Drew folded closer along her back, got an arm warm under her belly. “Anything. Anything beautiful, let me hear you…”

She’d never screamed in bed before, but the sound came more from the shivery thing in her chest, from joy more than her body. She shook afterwards, while he nuzzled her cheek and tried to catch his breath.

“You asked me to marry you this morning.”

“I didn’t want to wait anymore, couldn’t. This was never going to be something I didn’t want with you, what I wanted for _us_.”

She rubbed the backs of her fingers over his jaw. “I couldn’t even hear you _talking_.”

He kissed her light, lingering, pulled her into his arms, said warmly, “I might have guessed that baby.”

They’d finished the champagne, dozed for a bit, but someone nuzzled a shoulder and kissed skin and that was all it took.

That time she’d finally just cried, nails digging into his arms and every limb shaking wrapped around him tight, her back on the sheets and his body heavy and warm blocking out the world just for now.

It was just perfect.

*

They ate the cake for breakfast, half-awake in sweatshirts and underwear on the little couch, hip to hip.

She _hurt_ , ached through her belly and thighs from overuse and savored every minute of it. The tremble she’d seen run through his legs when he stood up this morning only made her feel even more smug about it.

Melinda liked skiing. It was fun. It’d been a while and they both knew how, but it was secondary, not why they were up here. Her mother had taught her to ski and Ops Academy had taught her to ski _well_ , but she only gave the double black diamond slopes one interested look. That wasn’t why she was here. They skied the blue slopes and she teased him out onto a black slope just once, walking back when he lost his footing twice and ducking into the trees to make out just that one time, his chilly hands on her back under her jacket.

Dinner was early, an indulgence again, some pseudo-French place they could walk to. They had more wine than they should have, sat in a dim corner, tucked under his arm and talking about nothing. Her limbs were heavy and her belly hot, eyes half open and he smelled so good leaning up into the crook of his neck. Time ran slow.

Melinda said she’d get the fire going when they got back, watched him go in the other little room to change before she took her phone out of the hidden pocket in her bag.

The newly S.H.I.E.L.D. issued, much smaller portable phone had three missed calls. Her heart sank a bit when the last two were from Fury. She was still planning to tell him to just do without her, but something might actually be serious. She wouldn’t be able to turn her back at that point.

Fury answered her call with a click and just waited. He knew who was calling.

“Is the world ending?” she asked.

“No,” he growled.

Well, he’d know if it was. He _was_ Director now. Screw it then. “I’m taking couple of extra days off,” she said, brightly and with too much attitude _very much_ on purpose.

Fury still didn’t say anything, but she heard his heavy sigh through the staticky connection. “There a ring on your finger?”

“What if there is?”

“Need you back here by Wednesday night.”

“Yes sir,” she said and hung up.

Andrew was leaning on the doorframe in just boxer shorts and a frown. “You just _had_ to bring that thing.”

Melinda shrugged but didn’t apologize. He never asked her to apologize for her job and she never asked him to pretend to just be fine with the hours. It worked.

“Bad news?”

She leaned back in front of the fire, shook her hair out behind her, looked up through her lashes. He didn’t know about it yet, but the blue satin bra she had on underneath this sweater was going to feel _so nice_ against his chest.

“Melinda...”

“We can drive back Tuesday, have some time at home, or drive back Wednesday morning. Think I’m back to work Wednesday night.”

Andrew frowned, thinking. “I don’t teach til Thursday. I already cancelled Tuesday’s class, set up a study session before we left.”

“I know.” He was always so thorough with his classes. She loved that.

“So…” he said, walking over to her.

“Mmhmm?” She loved him so much.

“We’ve got some time then,” he said, shifting to stand with a foot to either side of her thighs.

She caught his ankles in her hands, rubbed circles with her thumbs. “You busy?”

Drew snorted, laid down next to her and pulled her close to kiss.

She ended up in his lap in the armchair they dragged closer to the fire, his fingers curling careful inside her until she wasn’t too sore to take him in, rocking slow with their chests together and his hands on her back, chin on her shoulder. She twined both arms around his neck and rubbed her cheek against his hair.

Melinda fell asleep there on his lap and woke up on top of him in the bed, traced his lips and nose with her fingertips in the grey dawn light.

*

Wednesday night they got back late, trading off the driving this time. She’d dozed off in the passenger’s seat once, woke up having wrapped both arms around one of his and pulled it to her chest. She had to leave by 4 am, but it was more than worth it all, windburn itchy on her face and a tired ache in her thighs.

Melinda froze half a step inside their door. “Someone’s been in here.”

“Really? It was still locked,” he said, and she glowered over her shoulder. Like _locks_ were going to mean anything to the right kind of people.

Andrew frowned, but still stayed behind her when they went in, staying in the smaller, more defensible space of the little entry while she scanned the room.

The issue wasn’t hard to spot. She sighed.

“Who broke in?” Andrew asked, because he knew that sigh was exasperation, not alarm. She knew whoever it’d been.

On their kitchen counter was a box clearly containing a new blender, not gift wrapped, but with a bright red bow stuck to the top of it and a note.

_Here is the only appliance it is safe to let May touch. Good luck to you both. All my best - Phil C_

Melinda read the note in Drew’s hand twice before it sank in. “Phil you _piece_ of _shit_.”

Andrew only laughed and spun her around their tiny kitchen enveloped in his warm arms.

She slunk her arms around his waist after a moment, letting Drew sway them foot to foot. “I can’t _believe_ him,” she growled.

“You telling me you _didn’t_ trash the tray in my microwave? You didn’t manage to melt that last month, hm?” he teased, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. “Anyways, there isn’t gonna be a smoothie place two blocks away when we finally move out.”

When. They’d talked about it a few times, a house, but they’d been vague talks. They were putting money away, but not really making any plans yet. Maybe now it was time to start thinking about it for real? She was so sick of not having a yard.

They should start looking. She leaned up on her toes to kiss him again.

Melinda started unpacking for them both and repacking for herself while Drew started dinner. But first she dug her latest pager out of the dresser. SHIELD had made it more useful than the last one, but she still only really used it to get ahold of Coulson.

_U jst had 2 brk in here_

She stuffed it under a pillow after it sent. The beeping was obnoxious.

_Had 2 drp off a wdding prsnt b4 I got sent out_

_Fury tell u?_

_U dnt wnt 2 knw how much $ I jst made off u guys_

She snorted. It wasn’t surprising certain people had placed bets, but she…wait. How had he known when to…

_Did u knw abt this???_

_;)_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Remember when I thought this was gonna be about 500 words? (What happened...)
> 
> These events by the best of my ability to make sense of Marvel timelines, should take place around 1995 or 1996. I'm thinking sometime in 95. May's level four, Coulson's level five, and Andrew is done with his doctorate and is teaching, though not at Culver yet. They're either 31 and 30 here or 30 and 29. Continuing to extrapolate from the actors like has been typical for the rest of the casting, Andrew was a bit younger than May. Writing May this young, unburdened, and this happy was so bittersweet.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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